The Academy
by PayShaFan
Summary: Loren Singer has always had a tough life. Through their mutual love of music Victor Galindez gets to learn a little bit more than most about this tough skinned woman.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is a slight crossover with CSI:NY but it's considered AU for both JAG and CSI:NY. I'll explain any CSI:NY characters that will appear like I would an OC. I'll be working on it this whole week before I have to go back to college so I hope to have a few chapters for you guys this week and then I'll be working on it here and there once I get back down there.**

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><p>Gunnery Sergeant Victor Galindez sat staring out into the crowd of dancers at the bar Commander Rabb had chosen for the JAG outing. As the Latin music penetrated the bar he glanced over at the other occupants of the table. Admiral Chegwidden was looking as relaxed as was appropriate for a commanding officer in the presence of those under his command, the Roberts had chosen to take a break after Lt Bud Roberts had stepped on his wife's toes a multitude of times, and the final member of JAG still sitting was Lt Loren Singer looking like she wanted to dance. After an internal debate where his good sense lost he got up and walked over to the pariah of JAG<p>

"Would you care to dance, ma'am?" Victor asked holding his hand out to the blonde woman as the most recent song came to an end. She stared at his hand for a moment before looking up at him as if questioning his motives in her head.

"Yes, thank you, Gunny." She finally decided placing her hand in his hesitantly.

They stepped onto the floor and he placed his left hand on the middle of her back, holding her left hand in his right while she placed her right hand on his shoulder. They kept an appropriate distance between them and their eyes locked as the first strains of a tango began. He watched as Loren's eyes seemed to light up and she smiled just slightly in joy at the song and he smiled back. He'd never seen the normally closed off Lieutenant showing such openness or smiling.

He led her across the floor and she followed his moves easily never once faltering. Her gaze clearly offered a challenge when she realized he wasn't giving his all and he gave a slight smile before making his moves faster and slightly more complicated. She only raised an elegant eyebrow at him and he once again accepted the challenge. This cycle continued until the final note. Only when the applause broke their bubble did he gently pull her up from the dip they had ended in both flushed, panting, and grinning, gazes locked. He held onto her hand as they both took a bow before releasing it and placing on the small of her back to lead her off the dance floor.

All of the JAG members had returned to sit or stand around their table when the two dancers returned. They looked on slack jawed at the change in the two most closed off people at JAG HQ. They were both still grinning as their eyes nearly sparkling in their happiness. Loren's hair, which she had let down this evening, was mussed and tangled from the various spins, dips, and mild lifts.

"I had no idea you could dance, ma'am." Gunny said still grinning.

"I was required to learn several styles of dance growing up." Her smile dimmed and she again became closed off and Gunny resolved to make her smile again.

"That was fantastic!" Commander Rabb said staring slack jawed at the two. They both blushed and said their 'thank you's as other members of the staff expressed their surprise and enjoyment at the impromptu dance.

The night continued on as it did every other outing for everyone except Lt Singer and Gunny. The two sat near enough to the Admiral that he could testify that nothing inappropriate had occurred but far enough away that he couldn't hear everything that they said.

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><p><em> "Miss Loren, Miss Megan, if you two can't stop squirming and start paying attention I'm going to have to hold you back after class." Miss Claire said glaring at the twin nine year olds. Miss Claire had graduated from the Academy last year and had returned to teach dance there after an accident a few months ago.<em>

_ "Sorry, Miss Claire, but Mac's coming home today…"Loren started._

"_And we're really excited to see him!" Megan finished for her twin both bouncing up and down on their toes. Miss Claire's face lost its stern look as she crouched down in front of the younger girls._

"_I know you girls are excited but it's unlady like to bounce or squirm like a toddler. It's also unsafe to express your excitement at seeing someone in such a public way. If one of these other boys or girls were an enemy they would instantly know the best way to hurt you is through your brother. You have to school your expressions. It's not bad to experience and show emotion it's just not safe to do so in such a public area. Understood?" Miss Claire said looking between the two._

"_Yes, ma'am." They answered together both looking down at their toes._

"_I'm excited to see him too, we graduated together and he's my friend too." Miss Claire winked at the two and the three shared a quick smile before she schooled her features and went back to teaching._

"_Boy on the floor!" Came the call from the common room and was echoed by every girl on the floor. Megan and Loren shared a grin and ran into the common room and into the arms of a nineteen year old man wearing the uniform of a United States Marine._

"_Hey, munchkins!" He called kneeling on the ground and wrapping an arm around each of them in a bear hug._

"_We missed you lots and lots." Loren mumbled into his chest._

"_It's horrible here without you." Megan said also mumbling into his chest._

"_It can't be that bad, now it'll be your birthdays tomorrow and I brought a surprise for each of you." Mac said pulling back and letting go of the girls in order to reach over next to his rucksack on the floor. He returned with two small, pink cardboard boxes. Loren and Megan each opened one and pulled out a cupcake. Mac put a candle in each and lit it with his lighter._

"_Happy birthday, Angel, Honey. Make a wish." He whispered as they closed their eyes and blew out their candles. As they did Mac silently made a promise to himself to get them out of the Academy as soon as possible._

_The Academy was a four story building - not including the basement - outside Washington D.C. It was an orphanage where orphans were trained and educated instead of adopted. The basement was used as a training area for simple physical workouts, hand-to-hand combat, and the use of knives and guns. The first floor was dedicated to the kitchen, dining room, and the office and living quarters of the Director. The second floor was the class rooms, offices, and living quarters of the four other teachers on staff. The third floor was the girls' dormitory where the staircase opened up into a large, comfortable common room with four doors off of it leading to bedrooms. The first bedroom was for 4-9 year olds, the second for 10-13 year olds, the third for 14-18 year olds, the fourth was for girls who returned on college breaks, military leave, or on a break from a mission. Each room was equipped with a bathroom and beds for five girls except for the graduates' room which had two bathrooms and beds for twenty. The fourth floor was the boys' dormitory and was set up identical to the girls'. No one had ever left without permission from the Director._


	2. Chapter 2

"Hello?" Loren said into her cell phone, plugging her other ear to block out the music of the bar. "What?! How did you…never mind, not important. Of course! I'll be right there." Loren hung up her phone and quickly pulled some cash out of her purse, not even bothering to count the bills.

"I have to go. Thank you for inviting me, Lt Sims." Loren rushed through putting on her coat and was about to walk away before she was stopped by the Admiral's voice.

"Everything okay, Lt?" He asked, giving her an assessing look.

"Everything's fine, sir, I really need to go though." With a nod from her superior, Loren dashed out the door and into the badly lit parking lot.

"I should probably get going as well, sirs, ma'ams." Victor said, gathering his things more sedately than the Lt before him had.

"Have a goodnight, Gunny," and "Goodnight, Gunny," could be heard along the table and even a few from the dance floor. Victor also left the bar and entered the badly lit parking lot but he was stopped by a female shriek coming from a few rows over. It sounded more excited than anything but there was no way he was going to ignore it. As he approached silently he was able to hear voices, one male and one female, talking excitedly.

"When did you get here?" The woman asked and Victor was floored when he realized it was Lt. Singer.

"D.C. or the bar?" The man replied teasingly and Victor was just able to make out the Lt and the man wrapped up in a hug, Lt Singer held up by the man like he had spun her around and then refused to put her down. The man had dark hair, remnants of a military cut lingering, and carried himself confidently. Most likely former military.

"D.C., you goof." Lt Singer's affectionate voice kept ringing in his ears as he quietly extracted himself and moved back towards his car. Tonight had revealed more of this woman than the entire past year.

Who was the man she so easily opened up to? Why would her childhood require her to learn different dance styles? How much of Lt. Singer was actually Loren and how much was just a mask to protect herself? These questions and more plagued Victor as he drove towards his empty apartment.

Back in the parking lot, Mac had finally placed Loren back on the ground. They had exchanged teasing comments back and forth as they walked to Loren's car, enjoying being together for the first time in over a year.

"It's not that I'm not happy to see you, Mac, I'm ecstatic, but what are you doing here?" Loren asked as she pulled into her parking spot outside her apartment. She turned off the car and shifted to look at her brother.

"Can't a man just come visit his sister?" Mac asked, gazing at her softly.

"A normal man yes, you, no." Mac let out a sigh and motioned for them to go inside.

"I'll tell you everything after we get inside and sweep your apartment for bugs." Loren nodded in acquisition and the pair exited her car. It took them nearly an hour to do a complete sweep and to dispose of the few bugs they found.

"Alright, now spill." Loren said handing a mug of coffee over to her brother and settled in next to him on the couch. Mac sipped his coffee with one hand and wrapped his other arm around her shoulder, pulling his sister in close.

"There was a serial killer in New York. God, Angel, the victims, they looked so much like you and Honey." Mac closed his eyes as if trying to ward off the memories. Loren pulled his arm around her tighter but remained silent, letting him speak when he was ready. "I stopped by and visited Honey at her placed in New York, I think I scared Mitch, but it wasn't enough. I needed to see you were ok too.

"Did you catch him?" Loren asked softly and felt Mac squeeze her just a bit tighter.

"Yeah, Stella took him down." Loren had never met Mac's partner Stella, but he had told her a lot about the Greek-American woman and even shown her a few pictures. Loren just let her brother hold her and silently thanked whoever was out there that he was safe here with her.

They remained like that for several hours, Mac reassuring himself that Loren wasn't one of the victims and Loren reassuring herself that Mac was still there with her. They didn't move. Their coffee got cold and Mac's arm fell asleep but it didn't matter because that simple reassurance of holding and being held was more important than anything else. Mac eventually felt Loren become heavier and her breathing even out. He gave her a few more minutes to fall deeper into sleep before he gently maneuvered them so he could pick her up.

"Sh, I've got you." Mac whispered into her ear as she began to stir and she drifted back to sleep. Mac laid her down gently on the bed and tucked her in. He gently brushed her hair away from her face and smiled as she snuggled into her pillow. "I don't know what I would have done without you. You really are my angel." Mac grabbed a pillow and blanket from the hall closet and made himself comfortable on the couch.

_10 year old Mac walked along the Potomac. He'd been homeless for the past two years, scrapping by on what he could steal and crashing in warehouses. He had stayed close enough to another pack of homeless kids that he had their protection but far enough away that he wouldn't get sucked into their drama. _

_It was entering the spring thaw and the water level on the Potomac had raised considerably. It was getting late and he could barely see. He was headed back to the latest warehouse when he saw a man dressed all in black drop a squirming bag into the rushing river upstream from him. It wasn't uncommon for people to toss puppies or kittens into the river and it made Mac livid._

_He saw the man leave the bridge and jumped into the river and swam to where he thought the bag would end up. It passed just barely close enough for him to grab at the strap and pull the bag into shore. He heard a sound like puppies whimpering and unzipped the black gym bag. _

"_Oh my God." Mac said looking into the bag. Inside were two naked, tiny babies. One was wailing loudly while the other looked barely alive and her lips were turning blue. He picked up the bag gently and nearly ran towards the warehouse. Who dumped babies in a river?_

_One of the older boys, Red, met him at the door. "What's got you in such a hurry, Mac?"_

"_Babies…dumped…river…need help." Mac gasped to the older boy and held out the bag._

"_What are you…" Red, nick named that because of his bright red hair, was stunned into silence when he opened up the bag, "Mike! Get Ally! We got babies!" Ally was a 16 year old Mexican-American who had given birth to a premature baby only two days ago. She was also Red's girlfriend and the baby had been his as well. The baby was too tiny and they didn't have the access to the medicine they needed to save him but now Ally might be able to save Mac's twins._

_Mac followed Red and Mike to the back of the warehouse where Ally was. He watched as the wailing baby quickly latched onto one of Ally's breasts while Red performed CPR on her blue lipped sister. The tiny baby let out a weak wail and everyone let out a sigh of relief. Red quickly transferred her over to Ally and again relief filled the air when she latched onto Ally's other breast._

"_She had to have been touched by an angel to come back from that." Mac turned to the blonde woman who had spoken. She looked to be in her early twenties and had a camera slung around her neck. He hadn't even realized she'd taken pictures of the whole thing._

"_Well, Mac, you found them, what would you like to name them?" Red asked sliding an arm around his girlfriend as she fed the two tiny babies._

"_Megan, after my sister." Mac said looking at the baby who had been wailing. "And Loren, after my mother, she looked like an angel. Maybe that's who was looking down on her."_

"_Alright, Mac, looks like you'll be sleeping in the thick of the group now." Red said looking at the younger boy._

"_What do you mean?" Mac asked still enthralled by the tiny babies in Ally's arms._

"_You found them. Ally can feed them and everyone here will help but they're your responsibility now. Congratulations."_

"_Wait a minute. You're giving a kid the responsibility of raising two babies who are clearly only a few days old?!" The blonde woman asked._

"_Yeah, and if you have a problem with that we'll disappear so fast you won't be able to find us or finish your project." Red glared at the woman and she visible acquisitioned._

"_Who's she?" Mac asked looking suspiciously at the woman._

"_Mac, meet Rachel. Rachel, Mac. She's working on some project for a photography class. Decided she wanted to see what we live like. Don't worry she's already committed to not telling anyone where we are or who we are." Red reassured but it didn't lessen Mac's suspicion at all. It wasn't even himself he was worried about any more. As soon as Red had told him Loren and Megan were his responsibility it was like an intense feeling of having to protect them had come over him. They were his world now._


End file.
